1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating horses, or any other animal, through magnetic field therapy, and more particularly is directed toward an apparatus used to treat subacute or chronic conditions of the hock where blood flow and / or pain relief is required.
2. Background
Thoroughbred horse racing has continued to be a popular and lucrative business over the past century. Although all successful thoroughbreds must have speed and power, they must also be consistently free from injury and soreness. It is apparent that thoroughbred horse owners have little control over the speed of the horse, except with respect to the conditioning of the horse and strengthening of its hocks, a main source of a horse's speed and power. However, such owners do have complete power in maintaining the horse in an injury-free condition especially with respect to its hocks. Therefore, it is vital to keep its hocks free from injury in order for the horse to be able to perform at its optimum level in races or even in everyday activities.
As a result, trainers as well as horse owners have begun using magnetic field therapy to keep the horse's hocks healthy and to aid in the healing process when injured. Magnetic field therapy is recognized by the medical profession as a treatment useful in influencing certain biological processes. For example, magnetic fields cause specific body sites to be heated which stimulates blood circulation and improve oxygen consumption of cells in the specific body site.
Prior to the present invention, magnetic field therapy has been accomplished by bandaging several bipolar magnetic pads to the hock area. Magnetic pads, such as those found in either U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,711 to Latzke or U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,532 to Baermann, were first positioned surrounding the hock in area requiring treatment. While holding the magnetic pads in place, a person would wind a bandage, such as adhesive tape or any elastic material, around the hock to secure the magnetic pads thereto. However, such bandaging techniques have several disadvantages.
One disadvantage is that it is extremely difficult for one person to properly bandage a horse's sore hock. As mentioned above, the magnetic pads are initially secured to the hock by holding them in place. Therefore, any abrupt movement by the horse during application of the bandage, which is a distinct likelihood when a person is tightly bandaging the horse's sore hock, would possibly cause the magnetic pads to shift from their designated position. In such case, the horse would not receive proper treatment to alleviate its soreness and injury. Another disadvantage is that winding bandages around the horse's hock is a time consuming process preventing quick treatment of a horse's hock injury. A further disadvantage associated with the old bandaging technique discussed above, is that the bandages may loosen and not stay in place and therefore the bandages are less effective. This may agitate the horse prompting it to remove the bandages completely thereby leaving the hock uncovered and untreated.